Solar Cells

NEW DELHI: Optical storage media maker Moser Baer on Thursday said it will start manufacturing photovoltaic solar energy cells. The company sees its entry into the segment as a lead over competition as setting up a solar photovoltaics plant has technology barriers and an entry at this time will place MBIL ahead of others. MBIL is targeting a capacity of 80 megawatt by 2007. The initial project is estimated to be Rs 260 crore and the project will be spearheaded by a...

ABU DHABI: A Swiss solar-powered plane took off from Abu Dhabi early Monday, marking the start of the first attempt to fly around the world without a drop of fuel. Solar Impulse founder Andre Borschberg was at the controls of the single-seater when it took off from the Al Bateen Executive Airport. Borschberg will trade off piloting with Solar Impulse co-founder Bertrand Piccard during stop-overs. The Swiss pilots say their aim is to create awareness about...

TOKYO: Japan's Mitsubishi Electric Corp said on Wednesday it planned to invest $70 million to boost production of solar cells as global demand rises on high oil costs and environmental awareness. Mitsubishi Electric is the latest Japanese company to see a promising future for solar or photovoltaic cells, which covert energy from the sun into electricity. The company said it would invest seven billion yen ($70 million) to boost production at two...

LONDON: Inspired by how moths use their eyes to see in the dark, scientists have created a new solar cell with drastically increased light collecting efficiency. All over the world researchers are investigating solar cells which imitate plant photosynthesis , using sunlight and water to create synthetic fuels such as hydrogen. Researchers at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) developed such a photoelectrochemical cell, recreating a...

NEW DELHI: Flying around the world in a zero-fossil fuel, solarpowered airplane may seem like something right out of a modern day Jules Verne or a 21st century Arthur Clarke novel, but yBertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg of Solar Impulse have set out to prove that it is indeed possible to do so. Solar Impulse 2 (Si2), the first solar-powered airplane that is capable of flying through day and night, is set to embark on its 35,000-km...

NEW DELHI: Flying around the world in a zero-fossil fuel, solar-powered airplane may seem like something right out of a modern day Jules Verne or a 21st century Arthur Clarke novel, but ?Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg of Solar Impulse have set out to prove that it is indeed possible to do so. Solar Impulse 2 (Si2), the first solar-powered airplane that is capable of flying through day and night, is set to embark on its 35,000-km journey starting...

NEW DELHI: India has imposed dumping duty on solar gear imported from the US, China , Malaysia and Taiwan. The Directorate General of Anti-Dumping (DGAD) in its final findings recommended that anti-dumping duties of up to $0.48 per watt on solar cells coming from the US and $0.81 per watt from China. Form Malaysia and Taiwan, it is $0.62 per watt and $0.59 per watt, respectively. "After examining the issues raised and submissions made by the interested parties and facts...

SAKA: A car powered by Sharp Corp.'s compound solar cells has won an 11-day international solar car race in South Africa, the electronics manufacturer said. The Tokai Challenger designed by a team led by Hideki Kimura, a professor at Tokai University, travelled the 4,061-kilometre loop course of the South African Solar Challenge 2010 race that started and finished in the capital of Pretoria. The car, powered by solar cells...

NEW DELHI: Sharp, the world's largest solar cell producer, is starting its solar business in India. The $27.4 billion Japanese major is getting into the solar cells business through its wholly owned Indian arm, Sharp Business Systems which is presently involved in document solutions products such as fax machines, multi-functional devices, LCD displays, etc. With this, Sharp will built its presence across the country in all its...

NEW DELHI: Finance Ministry is considering the suggestions of Director General of Antidumping and Allied Duties to impose duty on imports of solar cells , Parliament was informed today. DGAD has stated in its findings that solar cells, modules or panels have been exported to India from China, Taipei, Malaysia and USA below the normal value, resulting in the dumping of the product. The domestic industry has suffered material injury due to the...

WASHINGTON: If scientists have their way, solar cells could soon be produced more cheaply using nanoparticle "inks" that allow them to be printed like newspaper or painted onto the sides of buildings or rooftops to absorb electricity-producing sunlight. For the past two years, Brian Korgel, a University of Texas at Austin chemical engineer and his team have been working on this low-cost, nanomaterials solution to photovoltaics - or solar cell -...

MUMBAI: With a view to emerge as a complete solutions provider in the solar power sector, diversified Rolta Group plans to set up a cells manufacturing facility in the city and is in talks with Chinese firms for the same, a top company official said. The company recently made a foray into the sector by setting up a 60 MW photovoltaic modules manufacturing capacity here with an investment of around Rs 100 crore. "We want to move a step ahead in this sector which is...

MELBOURNE: In a world first, Australian researchers have converted over 40 per cent of the sunlight hitting a solar system into electricity, the highest efficiency ever reported. The record efficiency was achieved in outdoor tests in Sydney , before being independently confirmed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at their outdoor test facility in the US. "This is the highest efficiency ever reported for sunlight conversion into electricity,"...

Lung cancer is one the most common cancers in the world. It is difficult to detect and usually diagnosed in late stages, and hence not curable. So it is necessary to catch the disease early, before it has spread to other parts of the body. Scientists around the world have been working to develop newer diagnostic methods for lung cancer, and some of them look very promising. At the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Kanpur,...

NEW DELHI: India has decided not to impose anti-dumping duty on imports of solar panels from countries like the US and China , Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said today. "There was no notification. We allowed it (the proposal) to lapse," Sitharaman, who is also Minister of State for Finance, said when asked about the government's decision to impose anti-dumping duty on solar cells as recommended by the...

NEW DELHI: Under pressure from power firms, the government has decided not to impose anti-dumping duty on solar cells imported from nations like the US and China as the move would have led to rise in equipment cost. "The Finance Ministry has not accepted the recommendations of Commerce Ministry on imposing the anti-dumping duty. Probably the government thinks that levying the duty might hurt power generation in the country with imports becoming costlier," according to a...

WASHINGTON: In a breakthrough, scientists have created an array of solar cells that can withstand the blazing glare of 70,000 suns. Researchers have come up with a new technique for improving the connections between stacked solar cells, which should improve the overall efficiency of solar energy devices and reduce the cost of solar energy production. Stacked solar cells consist of several solar cells that are stacked on top of one another. Stacked cells are currently...

NEW DELHI: Sharad Saluja, 30-year-old director of the Rs 1,700 crore New Delhi-based Sterling Agro Industries, better known for its dairy brand Nova, belongs to a generation of entrepreneurs that is willing to risk diversifying into the renewable energy business. He has installed 50 MW of wind power projects and his plans to venture into solar energy will depend on a government decision expected later this week. Saluja is waiting for August 22, when the ministry of...

NEW DELHI: Raising concerns, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has said that imposing levy on imported solar cells could result in higher electricity prices as well as push many projects into litigation. Rather than hiking the duty, the Ministry is of the view that reservation for local content could be increased in the tenders to provide relief for the domestic equipment makers. To protect the struggling domestic industry, the...